thebigdonut

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TROPHY CASE

In honor of my third Reddit cake day, here's a picture of my cat by thebigdonutin catpictures

[–]thebigdonut[S] 1 point2 points ago

Yes! That's what I was thinking when I took the picture :D

So, anyone know a good dentist near Downtown? I got a problem... by bigmac1827in Portland

[–]thebigdonut 1 point2 points ago

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They're awesome. I had Green Apple Dental recommended by a friend, and she was spot on.

Preserving a scorpion exoskeleton? by spasticpezin craftit

[–]thebigdonut 0 points1 point ago

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That's cool!

If you're thinking of using them as key chains, I'd use the resin idea that LightishRedFloyd suggested. They're going to be way too brittle by themselves to stand up to the abuse that key chains see.

It's probably too late, but if you catch them before they dry, you can get some fine forceps and insect pins (regular pins might work, but they might be too thick) and position the skin however you want, say with the tail up. They should keep like that barring accidents (they will be quite brittle) or being scavenged by insects.

You could try some spray resin to help stabilize it, but I don't have any experience with that. Our lab just left them bare, and just made a few more when the old ones wore out.

As a side note, I don't know if the resin block will block the UV fluorescence. So if you have a few extras, you might want to leave them un-resined, so you can show off the glow to your friends.

I don't recommend using a UV light on a living scorpion. Their eyes are incredibly sensitive, so if you exposed one to a commercial UV light, it would be like staring into the sun for us (and they don't have eyelids, so they can't even blink).

Good luck on your project!

Preserving a scorpion exoskeleton? by spasticpezin craftit

[–]thebigdonut 0 points1 point ago

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What are you going to use it for?

I did my graduate research in scorpion behavior/physiology, and my lab had a lot of scorpion exoskeletons lying around for various purposes. Depending on what you'd like to do with the specimen, I might have some suggestions.

What is that one game for which you would give anything to have a sequel. by Scarbrowin gaming

[–]thebigdonut 1 point2 points ago

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Planescape: Torment

'Evil Scientist' Wants To Teach People To Do Good by davidreiss666in offbeat

[–]thebigdonut 0 points1 point ago

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Is it me, or does he look like The Master from the old Dr. Who series?

Example from BBC

Is this the best mugshot EVER? I don't even care what the guy did. by Cups26in offbeat

[–]thebigdonut 11 points12 points ago

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also, apparently, his lawyer "kicks gluteus maximus"

http://www.kptv.com/news/25778534/detail.html

This shit sucks. Do not buy. by Running_Bear23in Bacon

[–]thebigdonut 1 point2 points ago

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Upvoted for service to humanity.

Reddit, which gaming mouse do you prefer? by mangojuicerin gaming

[–]thebigdonut 0 points1 point ago

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I use a Razer Naga, since I don't do much FPS's, mainly MMO, RPG and RTS games. Having all of the number keys at thumb's reach is incredibly handy. I've fallen in love with this mouse.

For instance, in Mass Effect 2, I could trigger off my abilities by mashing my thumb against the appropriate button on the side of the mouse, besides the obvious advantage of having easy access to all those abilities bound to the higher number keys in MMOs.

"To our knowledge, this is the first randomized, placebo-controlled trial establishing that acupuncture may be an effective method to relieve joint problems caused by these medications. However, results still need to be confirmed in larger, multicenter studies."...Rebuttal anyone? by [deleted]in science

[–]thebigdonut 1 point2 points ago*

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If you've got questions about their methods, the Science Daily article's description about their techniques and results probably isn't the best source.

The paper is here: http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/7/1154

I don't have access to that paper, but here's a copy/paste of a bit of their summary:

Methods We conducted a randomized, controlled, blinded study comparing true acupuncture (TA) versus sham acupuncture (SA) twice weekly for 6 weeks in postmenopuasal women with BC who had self-reported musculoskeletal pain related to AIs. TA included full body/auricular acupuncture and joint-specific point prescriptions, whereas SA involved superficial needle insertion at nonacupoint locations. Outcome measures included the Brief Pain Inventory–Short Form (BPI-SF), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and Modified Score for the Assessment of Chronic Rheumatoid Affections of the Hands (M-SACRAH) obtained at baseline and at 3 and 6 weeks.

Results Of 51 women enrolled, 43 women were randomly assigned and 38 were evaluable. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups. Our primary end point was the difference in mean BPI-SF worst pain scores at 6 weeks, which was lower for TA compared with SA (3.0 v 5.5; P < .001). We also found differences between TA and SA in pain severity (2.6 v 4.5; P = .003) and pain-related interference (2.5 v 4.5; P = .002) at 6 weeks. Similar findings were seen for the WOMAC and M-SACRAH scores. The acupuncture intervention was well-tolerated.

So, I don't know if it was a double-blind study, but it seems the subjects did not know which treatment they received. I don't know about the evaluators, but if the patients are self-reporting, then evaluator bias shouldn't be a factor.

The results, along with their p-values, seem at face value to suggest that the treatment group showed a decrease in pain compared to the control group.

I don't have access to this paper at home, but I'll check it out when I'm back on campus on Monday.

I also agree with you that this study needs to be repeated, but the initial evidence (as taken from reading their short summary) seems strong.